To Sanji, From
by The Wandering Swordsman
Summary: Happy Valentine's Day! AU. Sanji received a special chocolate box in which he promised that if anyone gave him this certain chocolate, he would go out with her. Strangely, the box didn't have her name. So, he goes to find her. Note: This is not het, please look at the characters section. Cover Image by Picmurasaki.


**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

**-Happy Valentine's Day!-**

"Yes...!"

Sanji whispered a sound of triumph when he peeked inside a small space that was only meant to put in shoes. When he opened his shoe locker, there were dozens of letters with heart shaped stickers, cute transparent bags filled with homemade chocolate, and some store-bought sweets. He pulled the gifts out one by one to examine them carefully, having the sloppiest grin the whole time. He thought he got them all, but when he looked in again he had missed one. Sanji's eyes widened at the small heart shaped box sitting the back of his shoe locker. He didn't expect the box to be in there.

"…oh…"

He stared at it for the longest time, hoping-slightly-that it would go away. But, the box remaining sitting there, waiting for Sanji to pick it up. Slowly, he put his hand in his locker and drew the box out.

It was like any other chocolate box. Store-bought, no matter how late the expiration date was, the taste remained the same. This one was different; the company promised that it used natural ingredients, so it was perishable. It had fourteen different flavors of chocolate: milk, dark, mint, some with fruit, some with cream, some with a sweet surprise. There was a difference between this chocolate box from the other store-bought chocolate boxes. It was THE chocolate box that Sanji and a few of his peers had boasted out loud a few days before Valentine's Day.

He and his classmates were high schoolers, their adolescence was nearly complete so they were youthful beauties. They were attracting quite an fan from the ladies, so one of them thought of a great idea to prove their popularity. He announced that if any girl gave him the Big Mom's Chocolate Fourteen Assortment Pieces, he would ask her out on Valentine's Day. It sounded like a good idea, except that the price for these chocolates were eye dropping expensive. One could buy fifteen standard chocolate boxes for the one Big Mom Chocolate Pieces.

Sanji thought it was a brilliant idea, so he joined in on the fun.

Although, he didn't expect that he would get one.

He shielded his eye with his hand while the other hand held the chocolate box. He knew the price of these chocolates and how highly demanding these were, so regret tumbled down on him. It was a playful thought, but someone took it seriously.

He wasn't going to ignore the sweet young lady who probably spent all of her allowance on such an expensive gift; he was going to keep his promise. Sanji prayed before looking at the name that it was someone whom he had a slight interest in.

Slowly, he squinted at the surface of the box and found the name tag. But, when his eye settled on it, it opened round like marbles.

There was no name.

Sanji lifted the box, titled it, and looked at all sides, but there was no signature. He was now feeling bad and confused. Why would someone give him the most expensive chocolate and forget to write her name? Was this a prank? Upon thinking for a moment, that idea was quickly discarded. Not even the most idiot person in the world would think of buying such an expensive gift as a joke. The other probability for the missing name could also be that she might have forgotten. What a clumsy girl…

So, Sanji would never know who gave him the chocolate. Regret was winning over confusion.

He took a long deep breath as he slipped the chocolate box in his backpack. He wasn't going to give up. He was going to find the mystery student, so he could say 'thank you' and ask her out. So, that meant he needed to reveal to his peers that he got the chocolate. Oh boy. He wasn't looking forward to that.

After first period, he and his peers gathered around and shared (and bragged) on the amount they have received. To Sanji's dismay, he was the only one who got the Big Mom's Chocolates, so he reluctantly showed it to them. Their reactions were…rude.

"Oh my god! Did some chick really buy you that? What an idiot!" Someone laughed, and Sanji held the urge to kick him hard in his 'gorgeous' face.

"Sanji, are you going to ask her out?"

"Of course," Sanji answered tersely, shutting up the man who made fun of the chocolate, "The problem is that it doesn't have a name."

"No name?" The friendlier peer took the chocolate box and examined it the same way Sanji did, "You're right, it doesn't have a name."

"What a klutz."

"Will you shut up?"

"What if she was embarrassed?" Everyone's heads turned to the quietest of the group, "Maybe she didn't want to be found out?"

The obnoxious one started off with some kind of comment, but Sanji let that slide. The quiet guy's hypothesis kind of made sense. Because, even if he was in the girl's shoes, he would never, ever forget to write his name on a gift. He liked the idea, so he stood up and tucked the chocolate box back in his bag.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find her," Sanji said proudly, "she can't hide from me." The others pulled a smile, while the obnoxious one merely snorted. Sanji decided that he wasn't going to hang out with that guy anymore.

So, the search began. It felt like a quest to him, and quests he loved. A knight-he preferred to be the prince-on a search to find the mysterious maiden. Pretty or not, he was determined to find her because the chocolate box was heavy with hopeful wishes that she would be found, and he wasn't going to abandon that.

First, he omitted all of the students who gave him love letters, homemade chocolates, and store-bought sweets, which took out majority of the girl students at the school. Hope welled in his heart because his secret crushes didn't give him anything. So, he skipped down the hallway to ask the first gorgeous lady on the list: Nami.

"No, I didn't give you anything this year."

Hope crumbled a little.

"I mean, the Big Mom's Chocolates? Do you think I'll spend that much on chocolates, and then give it to someone? No, I'll buy it and eat it all to myself." Nami also looked through the surface of the box, "Wow, so someone did believed in what you said and bought it…that's something."

"It's a stressful something."

"Then you shouldn't have said it out loud." Nami placed the box in Sanji's hands, "I hope you find the secret admirer."

"Thank you…"

"You're going to ask her out when you do find her too, right?"

"…yes…"

Nami giggled in a dark manner, "Well, good luck. I can't wait to see who's going to be your Valentine this year." Smiling, Nami walked off and leaving Sanji's heart a little small and cracked. So, Nami wasn't the one who gave him the chocolates. He should have known, but there was a tiny bit of hope that it was from the number one cutest girl in the school. But, there were still others, so he was going to continue his search.

It was easier said than done, however.

Even though he had eliminated all of the girls who gave him sweets and letters, there were still a lot to ask. He started with his class, and all replied by shaking their heads. Then, he asked all of the girls who were in the same grade, but the answers were the same. He headed to the the upperclassman building with a glimmer of anticipation. The upperclassman had Nico Robin and Boa Hancock, beautiful ladies who were a target amongst the men. Too bad that they seemed to have no interest in men whatsoever. But Sanji decided to try it out.

Boa Hancock was cold. She snarled, glared, and kicked him out of the classroom. She turned her head away and wiped the tip of her shoe with a handkerchief someone let her borrow. Sanji's frown was deep with indignation. She didn't really needed to do that, but she was notorious for hating men. Rubbing his sore bottom, he trudged to Nico Robin's class.

"Chocolate? Me?" Robin gave a quick nod, "Yes, I did give someone chocolate."

"Did you?"

"It was Cutty Flam though."

A dull thud of his heart echoed through his head.

Robin gently crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side, "I've heard a rumor that if you receive the Big Mom's chocolates, you were going to go out with her. Is that true?"

"Yes…yes it's true…"

"Good luck finding her. She sounds really shy."

Sanji resisted the urge to not snort at the comment. He really hoped that the secret admirer knew how hard and tedious it was to try and find her. The more he spent time trying to find her, however, he felt a strong attraction. Which was strange, since he didn't know who she was yet.

He spent his time asking all of the upperclassman, but with no luck. As he trudged his way back to his grade, he met some of his peers. They showed a sign of sympathy, relief, and a bit of amusement. Of course they would be inwardly glad that they didn't need to search the whole school. Sanji really wanted to kick them so hard that something in their bodies broke, but he kind of felt proud. He was the only one who got the chocolate, so that meant he was loved (he wished that the secret admirer put her name though, then he could've bragged louder).

Between the short breaks in class and lunchtime, Sanji ran through the hallways to find her. He also asked anyone-girl or boy-if anyone spotted someone near his shoe box the day before Valentine's Day. He got answers, but he got names of women he found on his other gifts.

Time was up, and school was over. While everyone walked home with bright smiles or new couples holding hands, Sanji trudged with heavy feet. He could not find her, so he wasn't able to fulfill his promise. He tried not to think of what she was feeling because he could _hear_ her tears falling from her face. It was too much to bear. As he rounded a corner to head to his shoe locker, someone called his name. He turned, and a blush formed across his face. It was Vivi, a pretty girl from a class next door to his.

"Sanji-kun!"

"V-Vivi-chan! Happy Valentine's Day!" Sanji suddenly remembered that she didn't give him any chocolates. Did this mean…?

Vivi looked at her feet and shuffled around a little, "I-I'm sorry Sanji-kun. I lied earlier…"

"Y-You did? T-Then, does that mean you were the one who gave me the chocolate-"

She blinked and quickly shook her head and hands around, "Oh no! It wasn't me." The heaven doors that were a foot away were beyond Sanji's reach once more. Vivi saw the drastic darkness spreading across Sanji's face, so her quickened her speech, "B-But, I know the person who put the chocolate in your shoe locker."

Sanji's eye widened, "You do?" he titled his head to the side, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"It…It didn't feel right at the time." Vivi looked around her surroundings, "Also, everyone's gone, so I can tell you privately. I thought it was something that shouldn't be told in a large crowd."

"O-Okay…" Sanji leaned in towards her. It was an attempt to allow her to whisper the name, but he also wanted to be in close proximity, "Who is it?"

Vivi looked around for the second time, and leaned in to his ear. He squealed when he felt her breath on his cheek. She parted her lips, and it moved slowly, pronouncing every syllable. As he listened, his facial features changed from excitement and curiosity to surprise. It wasn't a devastating look of surprise, or the unexpected. It was mild because he solved the mystery on why there was no name on the tag.

Vivi drew back and lowered her face, "I happened to be there because I left my umbrella. I-I felt like it was something I shouldn't have seen…but if I didn't…you probably would've never found…."

Sanji merely nodded. He didn't remember if he said goodbye to her. He vaguely remembering walking the route home. When he came to and realized he was sitting on his bed, he put his hands over his face. His cheeks were hot compared to his cold hands.

Out of all the students he knew at school, this was a big surprise. He didn't expect it because the student was not the type to do something like this. It was the new student who transferred to North Blue High a month ago. The attractive looks and the quiet figure brought attraction amongst the class, but the student was extremely reserved. No one could persuade the student to talk, unless it was a question that required a 'yes' or a 'no.' Not even the kindest student in the class could break the stone, hard barrier. Everyone slowly grew a little annoyed by the student's severe lack of friendliness and left. Days went by, the attention from the class decreased until the student was alone, but the student sought solace by befriending a club instructor.

A rumor went around that the student left the previous school because of being heavily and mercilessly bullied. The reason was unknown. But now, Sanji knew what it was. His secret admirer didn't forget to write the name; the name wasn't written because his admirer had lost confidence. Afraid maybe. Afraid of being rejected and humiliated again.

But why this? Why did the student choose such a daring act to drop an expensive chocolate box in his locker? What emotions were going through his admirer's head before the box was slid inside? Was this a huge gamble on love, to test if the school would allow such romance? And even if these chocolates were the winning lottery ticket, which they were, the student would have never claimed it. The proof was the whole struggle of finding the admirer, and Sanji's heart leavened at that.

He crawled to his backpack and took out all of the Valentine gifts. He wrote the names of each of them, so he could prepare himself for White's Day. He planned to eat the homemade sweets first, but the Big Mom's Chocolate was sitting on his lap.

He tore the plastic wrap and carefully opened the lid. Fourteen different types of chocolates huddled together in individual pockets. He picked the heart shaped chocolate out and popped it into his mouth. It was an magical taste; something he never had before. He took his time and tasted every taste, writing down the distinctive, subtle flavors. When he was finished, he felt quite high from the sugar. How much sugar was in every piece; he decided not to read the ingredients.

Then, he crawled into his rolling chair and pushed into his desk. He pulled out a plain blue stationary and envelope. He was going to write his feelings into words because if he tried to ask this face-to-face, he had a feeling he was going to mess up. For the next hour, he brainstormed on what he wanted to write. He threw wads of crumpled letterheads several times because he couldn't find the right words.

Finally, before his father called him to help him make dinner, Sanji finished his letter. It was two pages long: one was mostly words but the second one was a doodle of a heart.

It started off with the name and the heading with: "Thank you very much for the Big Mom's Chocolates." First, he briefly described the flavors, textures, and sweetness of every chocolate piece, and how he liked all of them. He added that he was honestly excited to have the chance to become friends. Then, he also wrote a long paragraph of reassuring words that it was alright and it wasn't shameful to fall in love. He concluded by, apologizing for not fulfilling his promise to propose a date on Valentine's Day.

On the second page, he took all of the space provided in the stationary to draw one big red heart. Within the heart he wrote "Will you be my Valentine?" in large letters. Right below the heart, he signed it off with his signature.

Sanji read it a few more times and imagined how the receiver would react. Would he see a smile or a squeal of glee? He hoped it would because he felt happy. Feeling a bit confident, Sanji slid the folded letter into the envelope and sealed it closed. He placed it in his backpack and couldn't wait for tomorrow.

-.-.-

The next day went by a blur because it was unnecessary. The letter was important. He heard from Vivi that his secret admirer was in a sports related club, so the shoe locker would be checked when everyone had gone home. Sanji was going to stay and hide somewhere close to the locker hallway, so he could see the initial reaction.

He slid the envelope into the locker ten minutes after school ended. He made sure that no one was around, so there wouldn't be sudden witnesses. Sanji found a hiding area, which was a row of trees symbolizing a hallway-like appearance. The leaves were starting to sprout from its branches, so he was able to conceal himself.

Good thing he had his cellphone fully charged and had decently entertaining games because he was stuck hiding behind a tree for over two hours. As the third hour had passed and the games were starting to tire him out, a small flock of students walked out of the locker area. All were carrying large duffel bags with their school name and emblem stitched on it. Sanji turned off his phone and leaned close against the tree.

After the students left, there was several minutes of silence. Sanji paled that he might have missed the moment all together, but then he heard a sound of footsteps. Someone was slowly walking toward the shoe locker, and Sanji recognized the figure.

The student wore a long, brown trench coat with six large buttons down the front. The duffel bag was hanging loose down one hand and the school bag with the other. A quiet expression was on the student's face, unlike the other students who looked exhausted. However, there was a tense air emitting from the body, as if the student was cautious of something. A large, dark gray hat covered the head, and unfortunately, the eyes. Sanji peeked to see the student slowly heading toward the locker. He licked his lips and waited, not blinking his eyelids one bit.

His secret admirer dropped both bags beside the locker and opened it. There was a pause, a hesitation, before hands slowly reached inside to pull out the blue envelope. The student stared at the envelope for a while, probably wondering there was such a thing in the shoe locker. Large, clumsy hands ripped the top of the envelope and carefully held the folded letter.

Looking around to make sure no one was around, the letter was unfolded.

As if the student was bitten by a dog, the whole frame tensed up and dropped the letter. Sanji's heart soared because the reaction was absolute; Vivi was right. _He_ was the one. The student scrambled to his knees to pick it up, so his hat fell in the progress. Of course, the student was too much of a shock to realize this, so his dark green hair was revealed. Now, Sanji could see his face.

The student remained crouching near the locker, his body huddling to hide the letter. A hand flew to his mouth, and his body began to tremble. The letter was short, yet the student read the letter for several long minutes. After releasing a long sigh, he brought the letter to his face. Sanji's eye captured a blush and a smile hiding behind it. So many emotions that the student never showed were flooding out. Sanji wanted to see them all, saddened that his admirer had been concealing his emotions all this time.

Sanji left the tree and slowly approached the young man. He walked as quietly as he could, but the man sensed his presence. He immediately spun around, throwing his arms behind his back to hide the letter and envelope. The eyes met, sudden realization spread across the student's face, and the redness on the cheek returned.

Sanji outstretched his hand and poised it in front of the young man. The tear-rimmed eyes darted from the hand to Sanji's face, not understanding what the hand was for.

"Zoro," Sanji started, pulling his best smile, "will you be my Valentine?"

Zoro's face stiffened at the question, muscles visibly rippling under his skin. It wasn't because he was mad, he was trying his best to not break into tears. He covered his mouth with a fist to suppress a sob, but the tears were already rolling down his face. He breathed in a long, ragged breath and nodded several times. Sanji grinned and spread his arms wide. He pulled Zoro into an embrace and held him.

"I'll promise I'll be the best boyfriend you will ever have." Zoro buried his face into Sanji's shirt, sobbing loudly in his shoulder, "Happy Valentine's Day, Zoro."

**The End**


End file.
